Suggestions To Improve Process

November 8, 2004|Irv Slosberg State Representative District 90 Boca Raton

Early and absentee voting did not go smoothly during the 2004 presidential election in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Late and never-received absentee ballots as well as long lines for early voting put voters on edge for two weeks. I have some solutions for upcoming voting.

Implement a return receipt for every absentee ballot sent out. It will cost $1.75 more, but the cost won't compare to the insurance voter's ballots are received.

Hook up more temporary phone lines for the supervisor's offices, as well as trained workers to man the phones during the last four weeks of an election. The Supervisor of Elections Office should be run like a customer service business.

We now know early voting creates long lines. Palm Beach and Broward counties clearly need to double the number of polling locations as well as the size of the rooms and number of voting machines. Let's get some chairs to make everyone comfortable and provide water to avoid any ambulance calls.

The Legislature should be more specific on the 50-foot rule meant to keep campaigners a length away from voting sites.

We need to bring confidence back to the democratic process. I don't want the early voting process, which was meant to make voting more convenient, to keep voters away from the polls.